Social Safety with Animals

Social Safety With Animals

Animals make great companions. Whether you have pets of your own, have a service animal, visit with friends and family who have pets, or visit animals on a farm. No matter how you get exposure to animals, their presence can have a therapeutic and calming effect. However, it’s important to remember that animals like people can read certain social cues and give off their own. Animal cues are communicated via body language and vocal sounds and communicate a variety of different emotions: calm, fear, excitement, aggression, or anxiety. It is therefore very important to teach our learners to understand and follow some social safety rules when interacting with furry friends. Here are some important proactive skills to teach our learners to ensure that their experience with furry friends is safe and fun!

Seeking Permission:

Teach your child to always seek permission from you and or the owner of the animal to make sure that it is ok to touch and interact with the animal. Teaching kids to seek permission eliminates the guesswork as to whether an animal is child friendly. It is the safest way to interact with animals that you don’t know.

Approaching an Animal:

Teach your child to approach an animal calmly and from the front. Have your child gently hold out a closed fist just under the animal’s head to give them an opportunity to sniff you. Using a closed fist minimizes the chances that an animal mistakes your approach as handing them a treat which could result in them attempting to nibble at your hand.

Ending an interaction:

Teach your child to end an interaction with an animal by calmly retracting their hands to their sides and calmly and slowly backing away from the animal. Teaching these skills proactively will help your child remain calm and know how to exit an interaction with an animal should a friendly animal become agitated.

For more information on Social Safety, check out our facebook live recording on Social Safety Around Animals with guest Speaker, Whitney Wildman, from Ridgebury Farm!